Washington (CNN) -- Superfluous (su-PER-flu-us): Adjective. Unnecessary or needless; difficult to pronounce for a president with a split lip.

President Barack Obama grappled with the word Sunday evening at a White House event for this year's Kennedy Center honorees as he read from an opinion by legendary Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes.

"It's this lip. It's hard to say," Obama said to chuckles from the audience. "You try it when you've had 12 stitches."

Obama got a dozen stitches in his lip after being elbowed during a pickup basketball game the day after Thanksgiving. He received applause from the crowd when he finally managed to pronounce the word, included in a 1926 dissent from Holmes in defense of the arts.

"To many people, the superfluous is necessary," Holmes wrote. "The theater is necessary. Dance is necessary. Song is necessary. The arts are necessary. They are a necessary part of our lives."

To that, Obama added, "The men and women here tonight embody that idea. Tonight it is my honor to offer them the appreciation of a grateful nation."